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FAQ

1. Pre-enrollment

Yes, what counts is that the knowledge you can certify is as close as possible to the access profile (see the academic regulations for the master's degree). Naturally, engineering and science degrees are much closer to this profile.

If the degree is foreign, for it to be valid it must also give access to master's level degrees in the country of origin.

If your profile is not exactly what is requested, don't worry. The Master's Committee can admit you on the condition that you take some refresher courses.

If your profile is very far from the master's access profile and the refresher courses are not sufficient, admission is difficult. In this case, what we recommend is that you take the ICT Systems Engineering degree first and then access the master's degree.

If you are finishing a degree at the UPC and need to present the degree thesis, you can register for the master's. Keep in mind that:

  • Under no circumstances can you obtain a master's degree if you have not previously obtained a bachelor's degree. 

You just have to follow the instructions explained in «Pre-enrollment, admission and enrollment». Reading this FAQ will also help you understand the required documentation. Finally, if you need support in any aspect, please contact us.

2. Admission

The master's committee follows the admission criteria established in the master's academic regulations. The criterion simply assesses that you have the main knowledge to pass the master's degree successfully.

Yes, you can submit allegations to the master's committee and, as a last resort, an appeal to the Rector.

If you are a student from outside the European Union you will probably need an admission document to apply for a student visa. Once payment is confirmed in the system, the admission document (acceptance letter) is automatically generated.

3. Curriculum vitae

It is not necessary, although it can be interesting. In any case, the commission can always ask you for documentation that proves some points in the curriculum vitae.

Yes, professional experience can be relevant at the time of admission. The master's committee takes into account that some of the knowledge needed to access the master's may have been acquired or intensified through professional practice. However, having professional experience is not a requirement to access the master's degree.

The purpose of the curriculum vitae is to help the committee decide if you have the right profile to be admitted. This profile must be close to the following (you can find a more extensive description in the master's academic regulations):

  •    Knowledge of imperative programming languages
  •    Knowledge of mathematics
  •    Knowledge of data structures
  •    Communications networks
  •    Operating systems and databases

The curriculum vitae, therefore, must help to know which of these knowledge you have and in what depth.

4. When the title is foreign

Yes, you can apply as long as, in the country issuing the degree, this degree also gives access to master's level. However, when a degree and academic certificate have been issued abroad, additional requirements affecting the degree and academic certificate must be met:

Regarding the content of the academic certificate:

  1. There must be sufficient information explaining the grading system used.
  2. It must be accompanied by the "Declaration of equivalence of the final grade", which can be obtained via the web from this application

Regarding the legalization of the title and the academic certificate:

  1. If the degree and academic certificate have been issued in countries of the European Union, the European Economic Area or Switzerland, they are directly valid and no legalization is required.
  2. If the degree and the academic certificate have been issued in countries included in the Hague Convention, the degree and the academic certificate must be accompanied by an apostille consigned by the competent authority of the issuing country. See next question.
  3. In all other cases, the degree and the academic certificate must be legalized through diplomatic channels. See this question below.

Regarding the language of the degree and the academic certificate:

  1. If the degree or academic certificate are written in languages other than Catalan and Spanish, they must be accompanied by a legal translation made by a sworn translator. See this question below.

Connect to this page and search for the issuing country of the documents. There you will see the bodies of the issuing country that can add the apostille to your documentation.

You can find the list of sworn translators in Catalan on this page.

You can also find the list of sworn translators in Spanish using this search engine.

In the case of the degree and the academic record, you can do it through the following bodies:

  • Ministry of Education of the country of origin of the documents.
  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country where the aforementioned documents were issued.
  • Diplomatic or consular representation of Spain in the country issuing the documents.

It is not necessary for you to approve or validate the title (which is a cumbersome procedure). You only need to legalize your degree and your curriculum as stated in the FAQ "Can I access with a foreign degree?".

5. Master's language

Yes, the master's degree is taught only in English.

According to what is established here, you have different ways to prove it:

  1. Presenting a B2 level certificate or higher. See column B2 of this table to find out which certificates are supported.
  2. Demonstrating that you have taken a university degree that has as its object the study of third languages as long as they involve a minimum of 30 ECTS credits of learning a third language and that in this learning the four skills (comprehension and oral expression , and written comprehension and expression) are assessed.
  3. Presenting a high school diploma or equivalent obtained abroad if the vehicular language of these studies was English. When the documentation provided does not allow to demonstrate this, we may ask you for a certificate of studies indicating the vehicular language, which must be, in a minimum proportion of 50%, English.
  4. Presenting a university degree obtained abroad if the vehicular language of these studies was English. When the documentation provided does not allow to demonstrate this, we may ask you for a certificate of studies indicating the vehicular language, which must be, in a minimum proportion of 50%, English. 
  5. Presenting a university title taken in a double degree or a foreign university joint degree title, provided that the vehicular language at the foreign university was English. In this case, you must present a certification that proves that you studied a minimum of 120 ECTS credits or equivalent at the foreign university in English.
  6. If you have a high school diploma or equivalent completed in Spain at an authorized school in other countries. The vehicular language of these studies must be English.
  7. If you have a high school diploma or equivalent taken in Spain in educational centers authorized to teach mixed high school curricula. The vehicular language of these studies must be English.

The purpose of requesting the B2 level is to ensure that you can pass the master's degree successfully. If you consider that you have a level comparable to B2 but you cannot prove it (for example because it is your native language), explain your situation in as much detail as possible so that the Master's Commission can decide during admission. We advise you, however, to look into formally accrediting your level.

6. Enrollment

Yes, you can enroll in fewer courses and take the master's degree more gradually. However, you must take into account the following:

  • Each semester you must register 10 or more ECTS credits.
  • Credits passed during the first and second semester must add up to 15 or more ECTS.
  • You must pass the 90 ECTS credits of the master's degree in 3 academic years (6 semesters) at the most.
  • If the approved credits in a semester are less than half of the enrolled credits, special monitoring will be applied to you with the aim of improving performance.

If you are admitted and have confirmed your admission, you can enroll during the administrative enrollment period. Usually this period is at the beginning of the month of September. If you have confirmed admission some weeks before registration you will receive an email with details on how to enroll.

7. Other questions

In the Spanish system, there are two types of masters. The so-called "official university masters" grant an official title issued by the state, are supervised and accredited by state bodies and have legal validity. The so-called simply "masters" or "permanent training masters" grant a degree issued by a university or other types of institutions and base their validity on the prestige of the institution. On this page you can read a more extensive comparison.

Yes. Official university masters are the only ones that open the door to being able to do a PhD.

This is a difficult question because of the multiple factors that go into pricing. At a minimum, you should know that:

  • The price of university masters is set by the Generalitat de Catalunya and can change (generally little) each year.
  • Every time you do an administrative action (pre-enrollment, enrollment, application for the degree title, etc.) you have to pay the cost of the service in the form of "fees".
  • The cost of enrolling in a course depends on the ECTS credits and how many times you have repeated the course.
  • The price rates are significantly more expensive if you are not a resident of the European Union.
  • Your particular circumstances, for example enjoying a scholarship, may change the cost.
  • Complete information with detailed rates can be found on this page.

As an example, with prices for the academic year 2023/24, a student resident in the European Union without any unique personal circumstances, who enrolls in all courses each semester and passes all courses would have approximately a table of costs like the following:

Phase

Concept

Cost (€)

Pre-enrollment and admission

Pre-enrollment fee

30,21

Admission acceptance

300,00

Enrollment 1st semester

Academic records management fee

54,54

Learning resources rate

35,00

30 ECTS enrolled * 27,67

830,10

Paid on account enrollment "admission confirmation"

-300,00

Enrollment 2nd semester

Academic records management fee

54,54

Learning resources rate

35,00

30 ECTS enrolled * 27,67

830,10

Enrollment 3rd semester

Academic records management fee

54,54

Learning resources rate

35,00

30 ECTS enrolled * 27,67

830,10

Application for master's degree

Issuance of the official title

218,15

Title submission (if applicable)

30,00

TOTAL

3037,28